


Sweet Like Sugar

by WildWolf25



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, Baking, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Fluff, Juno's not the best stepmom but we all knew that, M/M, The title is so-so... apologies, brief mention of past Jason/Piper, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildWolf25/pseuds/WildWolf25
Summary: Jason attempts to bake cookies and a nice dinner for Nico's birthday, and learns that even when something looks like a mistake, it might actually be perfect for the person it's meant for after all.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace
Comments: 11
Kudos: 69





	Sweet Like Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> (Yes I know Nico's birthday is in January and it is currently June... shhh just pretend)
> 
> Special thanks to my buddy Shipthepuppy, who enables me even tho she doesn’t even go here

Jason looked down at the tray of cookies he had just taken out of the oven. They were… not a complete disaster, he tried to tell himself. They just weren’t exactly what he had been picturing, when he made them. The recipe was for ‘ _ soft and gooey chocolate chip cookies that taste like heaven _ ’, according to the website he found it on, but his had turned out much more thin and hard than the photo that was on the website. Although, he reasoned, he wouldn’t put it past a recipe blog to just grab the prettiest stock image of cookies that they could find and slap it on the page above their novel-length intro to the recipe itself. 

A set of perfectly-manicured fingers came to rest on Jason’s shoulders and he resisted the urge to sigh. Of course his step-mother had to come and gloat. Ordinarily he wouldn’t even  _ be  _ at his dad’s house, but his apartment didn’t have an oven, Piper was out of town, Leo’s oven was prone to catching on fire, and he didn’t have many other options. So, here he was, in the too-perfect, too-white, irritatingly-spotless kitchen of his dad’s house, where his step-mother was always so quick to judge his every action (in her eyes, every mistake).

“You’re going to make a terrible housewife,” Juno said from behind him.

Irritation flashed through him, but he pushed it down and kept his voice civil. “Not going to make any kind of housewife,” he pointed out, pushing the spatula under one of the cookies. It was so thin that it practically peeled off the tray. “You know, because I’m a man. Might be a house- _ husband _ , though.”

He felt the hands on his shoulders tighten slightly, manicured nails pressing into his skin through his t-shirt. Juno  _ claimed  _ to not have a problem with Jason’s relationship with Nico, another man, but her views on marriage were rather… traditional, to put it nicely.

Juno let out a long, terse sigh behind him and released his shoulders. “You probably didn’t use enough flour. Make sure you clean up this mess before you leave.” Without another word, she turned to leave the kitchen.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jason said automatically, because even if he didn’t get along with his step-mother, he did still have to respect her if he wanted to be allowed through their door.

He quickly transferred the rest of the cookies to the cooling rack and started cleaning up the kitchen while they cooled. After making sure the dishes were washed, dried, and put away, and that every surface was sparkling enough to pass a military-like inspection, he poked at the cookies to see if they were cooled. They had hardened enough to no longer be floppy little crepe-thin circles ー now they were crispy little crepe-thin circles. Still not exactly Pinterest-worthy cookies.

Jason sighed and transferred the cookies into a tupperware container he had brought from his own apartment, then washed, dried, and put away the cooling racks, swept up any stray crumbs, and left the kitchen. Juno was in the living room, reclining on the spotless, cloud-white leather sofa and drinking a glass of white wine while watching the  _ Real Housewives of _ … Jason didn’t really know, some city, he guessed. Whichever version had the most drama was her favorite.

“Thank you for letting me bake in your kitchen,” Jason said. He lifted the tupperware slightly. “Would you, uh, like a cookie? As thanks?” Things always felt a little awkward between the two of them, especially when his dad wasn’t around. Jason had kinda figured he would be home when he had asked about the kitchen, but he had shown up this morning only to find his dad was playing golf, leaving him alone in the house with his step-mother.

Juno barely spared the tub of cookies a glance. “Not those, thank you.” 

Great. Maybe these cookies really were a failure. Or maybe she was just being aloof, as usual.

“Alright,” Jason cleared his throat. “Well, I’m going to head out. I’ve got a birthday date to get to.”

“How’s Piper?” Juno asked.

Ouch. Jason fixed a smile on his face that felt fake. “Still dating Reyna.” He injected a bit of cheer into his voice that he hoped didn’t sound false. He really was happy for them, but the constant needling of Juno telling him they should get back together was a little exhausting. 

“Hm,” Juno let out a noncommittal hum and sipped at her wine. “Well, drive safe. Good to see you.”

Was it? “Yeah, tell Dad I say hi.” Jason smiled, then took his leave. He let out a sigh as he walked back to his car; he loved his parents, but didn’t really love being  _ around _ them. Sometimes the atmosphere around them was… stifling.

It took him a while to drive back to his apartment, but he arrived with enough time to shower and get dressed in dark jeans and a nice wine-colored button down, which he promptly rolled the sleeves up to get started on dinner. Luckily, he didn’t need an oven for making the  _ risi e bisi _ , just a stove, which he had. While the risotto was cooking, he set the cookies out on a plate. Curious how they might taste when they looked so… not-cookie-like, he picked up a small one and bit into it. It broke easy, as it was very crispy, and he couldn’t quite decide if he liked it or not. Was it  _ too  _ crispy? Should he maybe just chuck them out and pretend he hadn’t baked anything? He  _ knew _ he should have baked a cake, considering the occasion… 

A hiss from behind him had him dropping the rest of the cookie and rushing back to the stove to check on the boiling soup. The water needed to cook out, but not quite  _ that  _ much. While he was salvaging the dish, a knock came from the door. 

“It’s open!” Jason called over his shoulder. 

“Wow, smells great in here,” Nico said, stepping out of his shoes by the door and walking over to the breakfast bar that separated the living room and kitchen. “What are you making?”

“ _ Risi e bisi _ ,” Jason replied. He heard Nico snort behind him and turned to look over his shoulder. “What? Did I say it wrong?”

Nico smiled. “Not quite ‘wrong’, just… kinda funny. You speak Italian like a Latin speaker; kind of in the same family, but pretty different.”

“Well, I did take Latin in high school,” Jason pointed out. “Could be where my skewed pronunciation comes from.” 

“It’s cute, though. Like my own little time-traveling Roman legionnaire.” Nico leaned on the counter and noticed the plate of cookies. “You baked these?” 

“Attempted, yeah,” Jason said, glancing at the poor, flat cookies as he chopped parsley. 

“You don’t have an oven. How’d you bake them? In the microwave?” Nico picked one up. 

Jason turned to look at him. “Can you bake cookies in the microwave?”

Nico shrugged. “Leo said he has, before.” 

“Knowing Leo, he probably did some modifications on his microwave.” Jason lifted the cutting board to slide the chopped parsley into the risotto. “And no, I went to my dad’s house to use their oven.”

“My condolences,” Nico said, only half-joking. “Can I have one of these before dinner?”

“It was okay. I tend to get left to my own devices when I’m there.” Jason shrugged. “And you might not want to. They didn’t turn out quite right. I was actually thinking of pitching them, just before you got here.” 

“They’re a little thin, but I like them crispy like this,” Nico said. He bit into one with a crunch and Jason braced himself for the worst, but Nico let out a pleased sound. “Mm, these are amazing, Jason!” 

Jason turned to give him a skeptical look over his shoulder. “Really?” 

Nico grinned and nodded. “I told you, I like them a little more on the crispy side. I mean, soft cookies are nice too, but these?” He paused to take another bite. “These are  _ god-tier _ .” 

Jason switched off the stove and transferred the soup into a nice serving dish. “Are you sure you’re not just saying that to not hurt my feelings?”

Nico leaned on the counter and fixed him with a serious look as he plucked another cookie off the pile and pointed it at him. “Jason Grace, do you think I’m really the type of person to sugarcoat things? I always give it to you straight.”

Jason snorted, but couldn’t help the warmth that spread through his chest at the reassurance. “You are the least straight person I know,” he pointed out, while Nico shrugged and muttered  _ ‘fair point…’ _

Jason sprinkled the soup with a bit more fresh grated Parmesan and set it on the breakfast bar beside the plate of cookies, of which Nico had grabbed yet another. “You’re going to spoil your appetite for dinner,” he chided, batting his hand away from the cookie plate. 

“But you make the best deserts,” Nico’s smile turned a little sly as he propped his chin in his hand. “Must be because you’re such a snack yourself.” 

Jason laughed. “You’re a dork,” he said affectionately. 

“But you love me,” Nico teased. 

“I do.” Jason leaned over to kiss him. “Happy birthday, Neeks.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Where’s my thin-crispy-cookie-appreciation squad at? I’m never gonna forget the time my grandma somehow mailed me cookies she made (while I was living on the other side of the world, mind you) and I eagerly shared them with people and they were like “mmm no thanks these are too thin, I prefer thick soft cookies…” (well FINE then more for me!)
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you enjoyed it! I am also on [tumblr](https://gold-leeaf.tumblr.com) as well.


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